A man in suburban Chicago has been arrested for allegedly “threatening to commit violence” during the upcoming presidential inauguration, accused of announcing in a voicemail plans to [expletive] Democrat “who steps on the lawn of the White House, according to an indictment.
Louis Capriotti, a 45-year-old from Chicago Heights, has been charged with transmitting a threat to interstate commerce, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced.
Capriotti was arrested near his home on Tuesday morning and will appear in court at 3:30 p.m., according to authorities.
The criminal complaint, filed in the US District Court in Chicago, alleges that Capriotti stated in a December 29 voicemail to a member of the US House from New Jersey that if certain persons “ think Joe Biden will put his hand on the Bible and walk in there [expletive] White House on January 20, they are unfortunately [expletive] mistaken. ”
‘We’ll be the [expletive] White House and we will kill them all [expletive] Democrat who steps on the [expletive] lawn, ”states the complaint.
According to the complaint, Capriotti left several “disturbing, anonymous messages” on the voicemail systems of multiple members of Congress between October 3, 2019 and January 29, 2020, and again from February to December. Authorities also believe he left similar messages from a different number between 2017 and 2019.
The alleged “reports contain profanity in almost all cases, along with derogatory comments about the race, religion, political affiliation or appearance of certain members and others,” the complaint states.
Officials said the FBI interviewed Capriotti in February 2020 and admitted to calling and leaving voicemails, but said he “meant no ill will.” They told him to stop making such calls, but Capriotti continued to leave such voicemails in the months since, the complaint alleges.
In one of the messages left in November, the caller called himself “ a nine-year-old Marine, active duty ” and said he had “ killed ” several “ terrorists ” in previous wars and that he “ will continue to kill them because that’s what for I am trained. The complaint alleges he also stated “big news is about to emerge in the coming weeks” and that certain individuals “will be amazed at what will be revealed.”
“Our office takes the safety of our officials very seriously,” US attorney John Lausch said in a statement. “Persons who violate free speech by making unlawful threats will be held accountable.”
It was not immediately clear whether Capriotti had a lawyer.
The announcement of the arrest comes less than a week after thousands broke into the Capitol in a violent, deadly riot. The FBI is warning of more unrest in the run-up to the inauguration day.